


T(h)ree Mistakes

by wickedlydevious



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Holidays, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21737845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedlydevious/pseuds/wickedlydevious
Summary: It’s their first Christmas in their own apartment and Steve reluctantly tasks Billy with getting the tree.Mistakes are made.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83





	T(h)ree Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> ~~ Happy Holidays! ~~ 
> 
> this started out as just a [little thing on tumblr](https://wickedlydevious.tumblr.com/post/189399052575/for-the-harringrove-no-dialogue-tag-game-by) where Billy get's the tree and then evolved into this. enjoy

Billy groans when he finally cracks an eye open to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand and sees it’s 7:14AM. He has a rule that on his days off of work he doesn’t get up until 8AM the earliest, and normally it’s never an issue because his boyfriend usually doesn’t crawl out of bed until 11AM on his own days off. But the spot on the bed beside him is cold and he knows they both don’t have work today, so something is obviously going on, which means Billy should get up and check it out. 

Grudgingly, Billy forces himself up out of bed and pulls on some pajama pants and a t-shirt to fight off the slight December chill in the air. He sees Steve walking around the living room when he finally leaves the bedroom, and he doesn’t seem to be in any danger, so Billy goes into the kitchen to pour some coffee from the pot Steve must have made. He grabs a bowl of Cheerios too and hops up to sit on the counter while he eats and wakes up. 

After a few sips of coffee he’s able to focus back on the brunette. Bowl of cereal in one hand and spoon in the other, he watches his boyfriend pace around their tiny apartment. Steve walks from one end of the kitchen, past Billy on the counter, out of the kitchen, to the end of the living room and then back. He’s fully dressed in jeans and a soft sweater, which adds to the weirdness because Steve is the type to not get dressed until he had about ten minutes left before heading out the door. 

It’s when his bowl of cereal is half way gone that Billy can’t take it anymore and traps Steve between his legs on his next pass through. With the spoon sticking out of his mouth, he uses his free hand to snap and gesture to the paper Steve has been staring at, mumbling over, and writing things on during his pacing. 

With a sigh and an eye roll his boyfriend hands it over. 

It’s a list of things Steve needs to get done before Christmas. He should have guessed; Steve  _ loves _ Christmas and gets kind of nutty and controlling about it. Billy’s pretty sure it has to do with the fact that it was the one time of year Steve’s parents made sure they were home so they could all pretend to be one big happy family, but he wasn’t going to mention that to him. The tradition now includes that Christmas is the only time out of the entire year that Steve’s dad acknowledges Billy’s existence, even if it is only brief eye contact and a head nod when they show up to the Christmas party. Billy’s on the fence about whether it’s better or worse than Steve’s mom acting overly cheery and constantly mentioning how great it is that they’re “ _ friends _ .” 

This list was a bit excessive though, there were at least twenty bullet points and, if the note at the very top in all capital letters is to be believed, it all needed to get done within the next two weeks. 

He looks over the list carefully before taking the spoon out of his mouth with a pop. 

“I can do the grocery shopping and get the tree,” Billy offers. 

“I’ve got a bunch of coupons for the groceries,” Steve says pointedly. 

Billy’s hatred of couponing was well known to the both of them (there was an incident that they don’t talk about,) and Steve is an expert coupon-er. The guy seems to always have a coupon, or know about a sale, for whatever it is they’re buying. It’s interesting to Billy that for someone who grew up rich and never had to worry about it, Steve is really good at budgeting and saving them money wherever he can. 

“Then I can do the tree, at least.” 

Steve shifts from one foot to the other and Billy looks up from the paper with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s just,” Steve looks away before quickly looking back, “the tree is really important. It’s like the focal point of the whole holiday. And picking it out isn’t as easy as it sounds.” 

“You haven’t even started on this list and you’re already stressing yourself out, pretty boy. You gotta trust me to help you out here,” Billy says softly as he uses the legs still trapping Steve to pull him in closer. 

“This year is really important,” Steve pauses to receive a kiss from Billy after he had put his bowl of cereal down and wrapped his arms around him. “It’s our first year in our own apartment,” another kiss, “and we’re having the kids over for a party,” another kiss, “and I want it to be perfect.” 

Billy can feel the tension in Steve’s shoulders lessen after each kiss, and after a deeper and longer one, he figures Steve is calm enough now. 

“It’s going to be great, Bambi. And your brats don’t need a perfect party, they just need a place they can come and drink,” he laughs when he gets the predicted slap to the arm for that comment; Steve refuses to accept that the kids are getting older. 

“No alcohol!” 

“I already have plans to spike the eggnog,” Billy gives him a mischievous smile and sticks his tongue out. 

“Asshole,” Steve laughs. 

Billy pulls Steve in so they’re flush together and runs his hands through soft, brown hair. He presses their foreheads together and just breathes for a moment. They have been together for over three years and had moved into this tiny apartment back in May, and Billy still has a hard time believing he’s this lucky. He has a feeling that’s always going to be the case. 

Steve seems to sense what is going through Billy’s head because he wraps his arms around him tighter and rubs his back. 

“I guess no matter what, it’s going to be perfect because it’s ours, right?” he asks softly. 

“Yeah, pretty boy,” Billy smiles and gives him a soft kiss, just barely brushing their lips together. “So let me help.” 

* * *

And that’s how Billy ends up in the parking lot of the local plant nursery a couple of hours later. He’s mentally going over all the things Steve had told him about picking the perfect tree during a very long and detailed lecture. It was excessive so he kind of tuned out just a bit, but he’s got this; how hard could it honestly be to pick out a Christmas tree? 

The only experience with real Christmas trees Billy had was from before his mom left. She would go out and get a tiny, pathetic tree to put on a table in the corner of the living room every year while Billy was at school. Then he would come home and it would be sitting in the corner for them to decorate together, always just the two of them, before Neil got home. 

After his mom took off for wherever, and it was just him and Neil, they never did anything to even acknowledge Christmas. But once Susan and Max were in their lives things changed again. 

Susan had some type of allergy or something, so they had a fake tree that Neil would force Billy to drag out from the basement or attic, along with all the boxes of decorations. He didn’t know who did the tree and put up the decorations because as soon as he had gotten all the boxes out, he would leave for a few hours. By the time he showed back up everything would be done. He didn’t know if Susan did it alone or if she had Max and maybe even Neil’s help. He didn’t really care to know. 

So, since this is his very first tree shopping experience, he is very unprepared;  _ mistake number one _ . 

As Billy wanders around the aisles of trees, he gets more and more overwhelmed. There are different sizes, colors,  _ smells _ _. _ He checks the tags on a few trees and silently curses to himself. 

_ “There’s more than one type of Christmas tree? Why? Shit, Steve did say something about what kind, didn’t he? Pretty sure there was a type he said to try to get and a type to stay away from, but which was which?” _ Billy thinks,  _ “Should’ve taken fucking notes.” _

Deciding to ignore the whole type of tree thing, Billy walks around until he finds one he thinks would be perfect. It’s 6 and a half feet tall, the perfect shade of green, nicely filled out, smelled good, branches seem strong enough to hold ornaments. He’s pretty sure it checks off on everything Steve had described. 

Relief washes over Billy now that he’s done, but it quickly dies when he reaches for the tag on the tree and sees the price. 

There was no way that was right. He reaches over to the tree next to the one he picked and checks the price on that one. 

“What the hell? It’s a dying tree, where the hell do they get off charging that much?” he grumbles as he pulls out his wallet and counts the amount of cash he has on him. “Well,” he says as he angrily shuts his wallet and shoves it back in his pocket, “New game plan.” 

His new strategy is to walk up and down the rows of trees, checking the price on each one until he finds one that he can afford and that isn’t complete garbage. Which is how he ends up standing in front of the best tree in his price range and angrily tapping his booted foot. 

It’s only 5 feet tall. It’s a dull green. There are some patches that aren’t filled in. It smells fine, but not as nice as the other one. They’re going to cover it in lights and ornaments and tinsel though, right? All of that will hide the fact it isn’t  _ perfect _ like Steve wants. Like Steve  _ deserves _ . 

Scowl firmly in place and nostrils flaring, Billy rips the tag off the tree and stomps off to go pay for the damn thing. 

* * *

_ Mistake number two _ happened in the parking lot of the plant nursery, but doesn’t come into play until he’s on his way back home. 

He’s speeding down a back road,  _ Scorpions _ blaring out of the speakers of the Camaro, when he hears a scratching/sliding from the roof and then sees movement in the rearview mirror. He curses and slams on the breaks when he realizes what had just happened. 

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Billy yells as he slams his hands repeatedly on the steering wheel. 

After a few deep breaths he throws the car in reverse and backs up to where the damn tree lies in the middle of the road. 

The first thing he does is check to make sure the stupid tree didn’t fuck up his Camaro, and when he deems it okay, he finally turns to the tree. He should have made sure those little punks had tied it onto the roof properly, but he had so over the whole thing that he just wanted to get the hell out of there. 

At least there wasn’t a car behind him, there was no way he would go back to get another tree if this one got run over. 

When he picks up the tree and a bunch of branches fall off, he is  _ so _ tempted to just drop it, get back in the Camaro, and head home. But this is for Steve, so he sucks it up, throws the tree on top of the car (carefully of course, so he doesn’t scratch his baby) and ties it back down tightly. 

Pulling his cigarettes and lighter from the pocket of his leather jacket, he lights up and looks back over to the branches sitting in the middle of the road. Maybe he could glue them on? Probably not. 

With a deep sigh, he exhales the smoke in his lungs and gets back into the Camaro. 

* * *

Steve’s car isn’t in his parking spot when Billy finally gets home, so he is left to bring the tree in by himself.  _ Mistake number three _ . 

Since Billy’s knowledge with real trees is limited, he doesn’t really know the do’s and don’ts of tree care. For example, dragging the tree across the parking lot, up the stairs, and then down the hallway, is something on the “don’t” list. It doesn’t take him long to realize that. 

Once the tree is lying in the middle of their living room he goes to shut the door and that’s when he sees the trail of pine needles leading out the door, down the hall, and he’s sure down the stairs and across the parking lot back to his car. That’s probably not good. 

After shutting the door he nervously gets the tree into the tree-stand and then hoists it up. He takes a few big steps back to observe the damage. And boy is it damaged. It looks nothing like the tree he paid too much for, and even that wasn’t a great looking tree. It had lost a lot of branches when it slid off of the roof of the Camaro, and a few of the ones still clinging on were bare of pine needles thanks to him dragging it inside. 

There is no way he can let Steve see this. A plan quickly forms in his head: he can throw this thing in the dumpster out the back of the building and then tell Steve there weren’t any good trees at the lot. That he will try a different place tomorrow. Then, tomorrow, he can go back and fucking steal the best tree he can find. Fuck it, maybe he’ll go out into the woods and chop one down. He’ll do whatever it takes to make Steve happy. 

Decision made, he’s about to tear the tree down when the front door opens and Steve walks in, hands full of bags, and looking over his shoulder into the hallway. 

“Are pine needles the festive version of rose petals?” he laughs as he shuts the door, but it cuts off when he finally turns and looks into the living room. 

Steve’s gaze goes from Billy, to the tree, and back to Billy. He carefully puts down the bags and makes his way over to his boyfriend.

Billy turns back to the tree and folds his arms over his chest, defensive and ready for Steve to make fun of him for not being able to do something as simple as getting the damn tree.

“Don’t,” Billy bites out when Steve is standing behind him. 

Steve doesn’t say anything as he presses himself against Billy’s back and wraps his arms around him. He gives him a kiss on the neck and squeezes around his middle. 

“So,” he says cautiously when a branch falls from the tree onto the floor, “It seems you had an adventurous day.” 

“Shut it, Harrington. I’ll get rid of it.” 

But when Billy goes to step forward and start removing the abomination, Steve just tightens his arms around him. 

“Baby,” he turns Billy around to face him, “can you look at me, please?” 

Billy hesitantly looks Steve in the eyes and swallows hard when he doesn’t see anger or shame or anything. Just love and a little humor. 

“We’re not getting another tree. Yes, this one is a little banged up, but I’m sure you have one hell of a story that we can tell everyone. It’ll be like a conversation piece! Plus,” he leans in and presses his lips against Billy’s briefly, “it’s perfect as long as it’s ours, remember?” 

Overwhelmed, Billy wraps his arms around Steve, probably a little too tightly, and buries his face in his boyfriend’s neck. He’s ashamed of himself for thinking, even for a second, that Steve would belittle him. They’ve been together long enough to know he never would. 

They stand like that for a couple of minutes before Steve pulls away. 

“Hold on,” he holds up a finger and takes a few steps backwards before turning and walking away. 

Billy looks back to the tree. Maybe if they turn it they can find a better side. 

His thoughts are interrupted when Christmas music fills the room and Billy looks over to see Steve putting down the plastic case to the cassette he just popped in. Steve then goes over to the bags he left by the door and riffles through them for a moment before finding what he was looking for. 

With a big, nervous grin on his face, he joins Billy by the tree again and holds out a white box a bit bigger than the size of his fist.

“Kinda early for a present, pretty boy.” 

“Not really a present. Just open it, come on,” Steve encourages. 

Billy opens the box and carefully pulls out a glass bulb ornament. It’s big and red, with “ _ Our first Christmas _ ” written in gold in a fancy script. 

He hangs the elegant ornament on their hideous tree and pulls Steve up against his side. 

“First of many, right?” he asks hesitantly. 

“Oh, yeah. It’s gonna take a lot more than a butt ugly tree to get rid of me, baby.” 

With a playful growl Billy grabs Steve and throws him over his shoulder to carry him into the bedroom. Steve doesn’t bother fighting, just laughs and holds on. 

* * *

**December 24th**

Billy is sitting on the one empty spot on the kitchen counter, in the stupid Christmas sweater Steve forced on him. He’s eating a cookie shaped like a snowman, as he watches Steve run around the apartment. The kids should be here any minute for their little Christmas party and Steve is making sure everything is ready. 

They managed to get everything on Steve’s list done on time. Less than halfway through the list Steve was going crazy from the stress, and Billy demanded he be given at least two more tasks on the list. With a  _ very _ detailed list, Billy was sent out to get some of the presents for the kids. His next task was to clean the whole apartment, which sucked, but he got it done with minimal complaining. Then, yesterday, he forced his way into the kitchen to help Steve bake an obscene amount of cookies and other treats. 

So they’re all set. The kitchen counter is full of cookies, snacks, and drinks. The eggnog has been spiked, but Steve won’t find out about that until later since he doesn’t even drink it. All of the decorations are up. Christmas music is softly playing from the stereo. The presents Billy got, as well as the ones Steve did, are under the abysmal tree. There are also a couple of presents with Billy’s and Steve’s names on them. And hidden under all of them is a small box, crudely wrapped, that Billy is trying his best to forget about. He had gotten it for Steve less than a month after they moved into the apartment, but he hadn’t found the right time to give it to him. He has a feeling that now is a good time, though. 

Billy’s fingers twitch with the need for a cigarette, but Steve made it a rule that there was no smoking inside and he doesn’t feel like going out into the cold for one. He shoves the rest of the cookie into his mouth and is contemplating grabbing another when a cacophony down the hall signals the arrival of their guests. 

“Your kids are here,” Billy calls out to Steve, who had wandered into the bedroom, probably to check his hair. 

“If they’re mine that means they’re yours too,” comes the reply before Steve walks out of the bedroom. 

He stops on his way to the front door to give Billy a quick peck on the lips, which Billy can’t resist turning deeper and dirtier. Steve hums in delight and leans in closer.

When the banging on the door starts up Billy is more than willing to ignore it, but apparently Steve isn’t of the same mind because he pulls back with a big grin and goes to open the door. 

The kids, not so much kids anymore as annoying, big teenagers, file into the apartment. Over the noise of them all talking, Steve directs them to put their coats in the bedroom and their presents under the tree. 

Max gives Billy a head nod on her way to the bedroom, which Billy reciprocates with a smile and El gives him a quick peck on the cheek. 

“Holy shit, what the hell happened to your tree?” 

Billy’s eyes snap over to Dustin laughing in the open doorway, arms full of presents. His laughter gets stronger when he looks over and sees Billy. 

“Oh man, I can’t believe Steve got you to wear that! You are  _ so _ whipped!” 

“Dustin!” Steve reprimands at the same time that Billy jumps off the counter and yells, “Henderson!” 

Dustin’s eyes go wide as Billy stomps towards him and, panicking, he drops his armful of gifts and takes off down the hallway of the apartment building. 

“Get back here, you little shithead!” Billy growls as he gives chase, jumping over the pile of presents in front of the door and running down the hall after the teen. 

“Billy! Dustin! It’s Christmas guys, come on!” comes Steve’s exasperated voice down the corridor. 

* * *

Billy groans and laughs when Steve cuddles into him more where they’re sitting on the couch, stomach too full to have a grown human squirming on him, but like hell he was going to shove him off. 

They had finished dinner, where they had all eaten too much, and were now lying wherever they could fit in the small living room. Billy was in one corner of the couch with Steve on his lap. Max and El were squished on the other side and Will, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were spread out on the floor. 

“Present time?” Lucas was the one closest to the tree and took it upon himself to grab and lift up a wrapped box. 

“Yeah, let’s all gather ‘round this absolutely gorgeous tree,” Dustin says sarcastically. 

“Hey, Henderson, do you think there are Christmas decorations in the ER waiting room?” Billy asks. 

“Uh,” Dustin cautiously looks over to the blond and reaches up to rub at his shoulder where Billy had punched him after catching him earlier. 

“Do you wanna find out?” he gives him a threatening smile. 

Steve pinches his side and glares when Billy just grins back at him.

“Leave the stuff from Billy and me to each other under there, we’ll open them later,” Steve instructs as he turns himself on Billy’s lap to watch the kids tear into their gifts. 

Billy wraps his arms around Steve and gives him a kiss on his neck, glad that Steve is staying on his lap even though there’s room on the couch for him to sit now. He’s still a bit hesitant to show affection in front of other people, but he’s slowly getting used to it. 

* * *

The apartment is so much quieter now that the kids are gone. The only lights are from the tree that Billy is laying on the floor next to, which adds to the peacefulness. 

He’s waiting for Steve to pour them some wine and join him on the floor so they can open their gifts to each other. 

Turning his head, he makes sure Steve’s back is to him and then grabs the small box hidden under the other present for his boyfriend. He slips it into his pocket and sits up when he hears Steve’s socked feet padding over to him. 

“So,” Billy smiles and accepts the glass of wine from Steve’s as he sits down next to him, “good party?” 

“Perfect party,” Steve assures him as they clink their glasses together and take a sip. 

Billy leans over and presses his lips to Steve’s, who’s more than happy to let Billy’s tongue tease its way inside. He tastes like wine and the Christmas cookies he’s been munching on all night. 

“Okay, present time!” Steve exclaims as they pull apart and Billy laughs. 

It’s hard for Billy to totally focus on what’s going on, his mind stuck on the box in his pocket. But Steve enjoys the gifts from Billy and Billy loves what he gets from Steve. 

When the last of their presents are opened they move back to the couch, cuddling and enjoying each other’s company. 

“ _ Now’s the time, Hargrove. You can do this _ ,” Billy mentally pumps himself up before leaning away from Steve. 

“There’s actually one more present,” he says softly as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the wrapped box. 

Steve smiles and accepts the box, giving Billy a curious look before unwrapping it. 

When he pulls open the white box to find a velvet jewelry box inside, Billy slips to the floor on one knee. 

“So,” he clears his throat, trying to get rid of the sudden tightness while Steve slowly opens the box to reveal a white gold band with a diamond set into it. “I know we can’t legally get married but,” he stops and rubs his hand over his face. “Fuck, I had this whole speech planned out months ago.” 

Steve gives a watery laugh and pulls Billy’s hand away from his face. 

“Just ask me, idiot,” he gets out through the tears. 

Billy takes the box from Steve and pulls out the ring. Gently taking Steve’s hand he breathes for a moment and then asks. 

“Steve Harrington, will you marry me?” 

Steve doesn't answer so much as he throws himself enthusiastically at Billy. 

* * *

**December 25th**

Billy pulls on his dark red button up shirt and fiddles with the cuffs. He’s standing at the end of their bed with his black slacks on, but unbuttoned, and the black leather belt Steve got him hanging undone. Steve’s own outfit of tan slacks and a dark green button up shirt sit on the bed, waiting for Steve to finish in the bathroom. 

They are due to be at Steve’s parents’ Christmas party in twenty minutes, but Billy isn’t going to complain if they’re late. 

“Did you give me a hickey last night!?” came the incredulous voice from the bathroom.

“Sure did,” Billy grinned in self-satisfaction. 

“I can’t cover this up with my shirt, it’s too high, jackass!” 

“You’re really gonna call your fiancé a jackass?” Billy asked while he started to button up his shirt. 

“Dammit!” 

Billy paused and looked over to the bathroom doorway where Steve was storming out. 

“What? What hap-” he was cut off as Steve shoved him down onto the bed and climbed on top of him. 

“Say that again,” Steve demanded. 

Billy smirked and licked his teeth, “Say what? Oh, you mean  _ fiancé _ ?” 

Without answering Steve starts to pull off Billy’s clothes. 

“We’re gonna be late,” Billy laughs, but helps get his clothes off. 

“I really don’t care. All I care about right now is getting my fiancé’s dick in me.” 

“Well, I sure as shit ain’t gonna stop you, pretty boy.” 

… They end up being over an hour late ...

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to everyone in the harringrove discord for your help <3
> 
> if you can guess where the "Do you think there are Christmas decorations in the ER waiting room? Do you wanna find out?" came from you win a prize. clue: think youtube
> 
> you can find me [on tumblr](https://wickedlydevious.tumblr.com/)


End file.
